Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion : Book Review

 Finally finished the book "Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini. 

The book is considered as a seminal piece of work to understand how influence works with both individuals and communities. The basic premise of the book is that while human beings have evolved to have the most advanced level of intellect, we have over a period of time also developed a world that has increased complexity. And in this hyper complicated world, the way we essentially operate is through a process he describes as "Click and Run", something akin to taking actions based on a certain trigger. This is because in so many situations people even with high intellectual capacity do not have the inclination, time, energy or cognitive resources to undertake a complete analysis of every situation.

As such a society made up of stressed, uncertain, rushed, indifferent, distracted or fatigued individuals will hence operate with the following key patterns or triggers that compliance practitioners (read advertisers, social scientists, change agents and even conmen) use effectively to influence outcomes in their favor

 1. Reciprocity: Give a little something and get something in return. This is what we basically know as the "obligation trap"

 2. Commitment: People strive to be consistent. So get a prospect to commit to a concept and if they commit publicly they will do anything to live by their basic commitment

 3. Social proof: People have a fundamental tendency to imitate people they see around themselves. Even the so called independent thinking teenager you know is almost often confirming to social-proof within their own peer groups

 4. Authority: Majority of people have the tendency to obey to authority. Social experiments show that even normally good hearted people can undertake very sinister actions under the force of authority and complex societies can never be governed if not for this social factor of obeying to authority

 5. Liking: Be likeable because people are more likely to say yes to those who they like. Physical attractiveness, similarity, and compliments are all obvious likeability tactics

 6. Scarcity: Things always seem more valuable when they are rarer and harder to get. Think loss aversion - people are more motivated by the thought of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value

 7. Unity: The factor called "we" or "shared-identity" is the new compliance factor he introduces in his latest edition. Similarity or belonging, shared experiences and shared grief are factors that create a sense of belonging and influence

From a writing style perspective, I personally found the book a very difficult read but considering the importance of this work I decided to definitely finish it.

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